There was a man named Micah who lived in the hill country of Ephraim.
He said to his mother,
"When the 1,100 pieces of silver were stolen, you cursed the thief.
I heard it and here is the money. I stole it."
His mother said, "May the Lord bless you, my son!"
Micah returned the money to his mother. The mother said,
"So that my son will not be cursed, I will offer the money to the Lord. Use it to make wooden idols and cover them with silver. "
So when he returned the money to his mother, she took the 200 pieces of silver and gave them to the silversmith to cover the wood of the idol. The image was placed in Micah's house. Micah has his own place for prayers. He made idols and an ephod for it and made one of his sons a priest. In those days there was no king in Israel, and every man did as he pleased. And there was a young man living in Bethlehem, in Judah. He was a Levite from Judah.
He left Bethlehem to find another place to live. As he traveled, he came to the house of Micah in the hill country of Ephraim.
Then Micaiah said to him,
"Where are you from?" He answered, "I am a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah. I am looking for a place to live. "
Micah said,
"Come with me. I will make you my counselor and priest, and I will give you ten pieces of silver each year, your clothes and your food. "
So the young Levite went to Micah, and he became the son of Micah. Micah ordained him to be his priest, and he lived with Micah.
Micah said, "Now I know that the LORD will bless me, because my priest is a Levite."